For years, shifting dunes in China’s Tengger Desert threatened villages, farmland and one of the country’s important railway links. Strong winds could send huge quantities of sand across the landscape, creating a serious problem for the Baotou-Lanzhou railway, which crosses the southeastern edge of the desert.
Planting trees and other vegetation seemed like the obvious answer. But there was a basic problem: the sand would not stay still long enough for plants to take hold. The solution turned out to be surprisingly simple, leftover wheat straw.
